‘Duranga’ Review: Drashti Dhami, Gulshan Devaiah Starrer Seamlessly Blends Multiple Genres, The CliffHanger Ending Is *Chef’s Kiss*
You know, I love watching Asian content and I believe that it is quite underrated, especially K-dramas, even though some dramas are internationally acclaimed. So, I was very ecstatic when I found out that Duranga featuring Drashti Dhami and Gulshan Devaiah, is an official Hindi adaptation of a popular Korean drama titled Flower of Evil, which stars Lee Joon-gi and Moon Chae-won in the lead role. Directed by Pradeep Sarkar and Aijaz Khan, the ZEE5 series is full of drama, action, and murders but let me tell you, it is a love story of two people but a perfect lie with a hidden truth might ruin their lives forever.
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CAST
Duranga stars Gulshan Devaiah as Sammit Patel/Abhishek Banne, who is a brilliant sculptor and the perfect husband of Ira Jaykar Patel, played by Drashti Dhami, who is an investigative cop. But she soon realises that her perfect husband and the father of her child might be a serial killer and a wanted criminal. The series is produced by Goldie Behl and Shradha Singh and also stars Abhijeet Khandkekar as Vikas Sarode, Divya Seth Shah as Anupriya Patel, Hera Mishra as Anya Patel, Rajesh Khattar as Dr Manohar Patel, Zakir Hussain as Bala Banne, Barkha Bisht as Prachi Banne, Nivedita Saraf as Gayatri Jaykar, Sanjay Gurbaxani as Shekhar, Kiran Srinivas as Nikhil, Sparsh Walia as Laksh, Vitthal Patil as Victor, Tanuka Laghate as Neelam, and Amit Sadh as Anupriya and Manohar’s real son.
Ira Jaykar Patel, a top cop from Mumbai’s crime branch, is living her dream life with her perfect husband, Sammit Patel and her daughter. But she is unaware of Sammit’s real identity and dark past. But when killings in the same MO of Sammit’s real deceased father, who is a serial killer begin occurring again, she tries to figure out her husband’s real identity while solving the case. However, Sammit’s life is actually multi-layered and the reality is very different. To know the truth, Ira will have to dig deep and her life might change forever.
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However, I don’t know why Sammit’s fake parents – Dr Manohar and Anupriya hate Ira and her daughter. And why did they convince Abhishek Banne to change his identity?
Also Read: Exclusive: Drashti Dhami And Gulshan Devaiah On Their Multi-Dimensional Characters In ‘Duranga’, Social Media Presence, And K-Dramas
VERDICT
Duranga is a well-written thriller and I absolutely loved the fact that it doesn’t try to highlight that serial killers and psychopaths are cool. Abhishek’s father Bala Banne was a serial killer, who committed suicide because he doesn’t want to get caught by the police. But even after his death, his children had to face the consequences, especially Abhishek, who never committed any serious crime but still carries the tag of a ‘serial killer’ when he just wants to live his life peacefully. On the other hand, Ira Jaykar Patel is feeling betrayed after finding out that her husband is hiding the truth from her but still wants to save him in the name of love.
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Duranga ends with a perfectly planned cliffhanger and it is *a chef’s kiss*, to be honest. The reason why I am calling it a perfect cliff-hanger is that you know everything about the characters but still there are so many questions that are left unanswered and it ultimately keeps the essence of the thriller alive while highlighting the love story of Sammit and Ira.
Even though Amit Sadh is just sleeping throughout the series (he is in a coma but never mind), I’m quite intrigued about his character. I’m convinced that his character will bring a major twist to the story later.
Gulshan Devaiah and Drashti Dhami’s performance is spot on, they make you believe that they are in love with each other even though their characters are multi-dimensional. I love Drashti Dhami’s badass cop avatar and Gulshan Devaiah makes us want to feel empathetic toward him. All and all, Duranga quite seamlessly blends multiple genres without taking away the thrill. However, I want to see the romance angle more as it is a story of two people who are in love.
Also Read: Gulshan Devaiah’s Twitter Thread About Nepotism Is A Must-Read For Those Trolling Star Kids
Duranga is currently streaming on ZEE5.
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